There's Beauty In Death
by rain-292
Summary: Harry is expecting another miserable summer after his fifth year at Hogwarts until a strange girl named Jen moves in next door. Harry eventually befriends the girl, but when he finds out the truth about Jen and her past, will he be willing to accept it?
1. Prologue

**Dislaimer: **Do you honestly think I own any of this? (besides Jen and her friends of course)

**Quick Note:** This is my first time posting as story here, so feel free to give constructive criticisim. I completely suck at spelling, so please excuse any errors that may occur.

**

* * *

**

Prologue

A boy around 15 or 16 was leaning up against a streetlight, staring up at the sky, and wondering why everything happened to him. He felt empty; empty of emotion, empty of feeling, just empty. The only time he didn't feel empty was when he felt angry, which happened often. He had been snapping at people a lot recently. He continued looking up, completely zoning out the world, until he heard a car pull up._ Who would be driving around at this time?_ he thought. It was getting late, and everyone driving home from work would have been back by now. He looked over and saw a car pulling up the driveway of the house next to the one he was standing in front of. _Never seen that car before; oh well, the snobs next door probably just got a new one._ He was about to resume staring at the sky when he saw a girl around his age emerge from the car, along with a man and a woman that he assumed must be her parents. He was confused until he saw a moving van pull up behind the car._Oh great, just great;_ he thought sarcastically, _new people to hate me._ It was bad enough that just about everyone in this neighborhood disliked him simply because he wasn't a stuck-up idiot like the rest of them, but new people hating him because of what they heard about him from the stuck-up idiots was freaking annoying. He had been staring up at the sky some more when he heard a pebble clattering. He looked back over at the people and noticed that the girl was beginning to walk away from the house. "Jenna, sweety," a woman's voice called, "where are you going?"

"Just gonna walk around for a bit mom. You know, get to know the neighborhood and all that good stuff." He finally got a good look at her; she was a little shorter than medium height for a girl her age, with dirty-blondish hair that was brown at the tips with brown streaks. She was wearing a blue T-shirt that said 'Panthers' in black. She was also wearing tennis shoes and loose jeans that were a little too long for her._ Wow._ He was surprised that he thought her so beautiful. She looked nice, there was no denying that, but he felt strangely attracted to her.

"Alright, but don't stay out too late. It's going to get dark soon and you _don't_ know the neighborhood, and besides, you need to unpack." the woman called again, bringing him back to reality.

"Got it!" the girl called back. She started walking again, and noticed him for what must have been the first time. She walked over to him. "Hi," she said as she reached him and extended her hand, "I'm Jen, who are you?" _Not really any of your business, now is it?_ he thought, his attitude returning. However, he decided to be as polite as possible. He wasn't really sure why he was so angry at her speaking to him. Probably just because she seemed so happy when he was so miserable.

He shook her hand and said rather coolly "Harry."

"Well someone's awfully cheery," she replied while rolling her eyes._ And what exactly do I have to be cheery about?_ Why did she even give a damn whether or not he was freaking cheery? Instead of replying, he just rolled his eyes and leaned back up against the streetlamp. "So," she said, obviously trying to change the subject, or rather have a subject to begin with, "how'd you get that scar?" _Now that's definitely not any of your business._

"I got it the night my parents died in a car accident," he replied solemnly. He didn't really see the point in lying about it. At least this way she might leave him alone, or possibly think she understood why he was so unhappy and then leave him alone.

"I'm really sorry to hear that. Were you in the car when it happened?" she looked like she was sad. Not really sorry for him, which was good because he really would have snapped. He had enough people feeling sorry for him as it was. It made him feel weak. She just looked sad.

"Yeah that's how I got my scar." he kept his tone indifferent.

"How old were you?" _Geez, why do you freaking care so much? Its not like it really concerns you._

"One." he was getting sick of talking about this with a complete stranger, and was about to leave as the streetlight he was leaning against flickered on. He had been warned not to stay out at night. He didn't really care, he just didn't feel like having anyone gripe at him right now.

"Well then you might want to ask whoever told you that that scar is from a car accident for the truth. That isn't how you got your scar. That's not anywhere close." Harry, who had been in the process of getting up from leaning against the lamp and coming up with an excuse to leave stopped short, falling back against the streetlight. How did she know that? Was she- no, no she couldn't be. He was just jumping to conclusions.

"What exactly do you mean?," he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"There's no way that you could get a scar like that from a car accident," she replied calmly. He must have had a confused look on his face, because she explained, "You couldn't have gotten that in a car accident because if anything had hit you in a way that would have left a scar, it would have either been metal or glass. Metal doesn't break off in a way that would leave a scar that shape. Glass would have to break off in shards and then pretty much embed themselves in your skin deep enough to cause a permanent scar. Plus, the chances of glass shards hitting your head so they left a scar that took that exact shape are roughly...1,500,000 to 1."

He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not. She didn't know how he really got his scar, but she had a lot of reasons for why he didn't get it in a car crash. Had she made all that up or had she come up with it right after he told her he'd gotten his scar in a car crash? "Do you always over-analyze everything, or are you trying to freak me out?" he asked seriously.

"A little of both," she said, completely calm. "You seemed like you knew more than what you were saying, which I can understand; I'm a total stranger. I just don't like being lied to." He was impressed, the tiny smirk on his face showed it. "Ahhh, so you're capable of smiling after all." she said, looking like she was suppressing a grin herself. He rolled his eyes, then looked back over at her and noticed two things he was surprised hadn't jumped to his attention earlier. The first was that she had a bit of an accent. It wasn't annoyingly obvious, but it was there. He couldn't quite place where it was from, though. The second thing is what surprised him. Her eyes were blue, but not the kind of blue one would expect to see as an eye color. They were the same color as her shirt, a blue that reminded him of deep water when he saw it in her eyes. He kept staring at her eyes, trying to remember what that blue was called. "Cerulean" she said, snapping him out of his trance.

"What?" now he was really confused.

"My eyes, they're cerulean." she stated, keeping her nonchalant air about her.

"How did-"

"Everyone always asks me what color my eyes are. You were looking at them and looked like you were trying to figure something out. I just assumed you were wondering what color they were; or what the color was called, now that I think about it." He was a little creeped out and really interested. She seemed to know what he was thinking, which he was sure she wouldn't be able to._ Unless...no, I'm just being paranoid._ Now he was very interested in talking to this girl. Maybe she was like him and just didn't recognize him. "It's getting late." she said, checking her watch, "Not safe to be outside late at night. See you around?"

"Yeah, sure." He was a little saddened, he wanted to figure out what was going on. Was he just being stupid or was she really like him?_ Oh well, she's right either way. I should get back inside, where it's "safe"._ The chances of it being safe anywhere where he was were probably less than the chances of glass shards causing a scar like his lightning-bolt shaped one.

"Bye, Harry." she called over her shoulder, already walking towards her house.

"See you." he called back, still a little down in the dumps. He watched her go inside her house as a light wind picked up, causing his naturally messed up jet-black hair to become even messier. He stood back up and walked into his house. If she was like him at all, she would show it soon enough...

* * *

AN: please review so I know what you think. Hope all of you like it. I'll have the next one out soon; I just need to check a few things. 


	2. Uh Oh!

dislcaimer: jen's my evil little creation, everyone else (that isn't related to her) is jkr's

* * *

Jen woke up feeling a little groggy, which she wasn't used to. Usually she stayed up until ten or eleven and then woke up at five feeling completely refreshed. She looked over at her clock and saw that it was 6:30. Normally it would have bothered her that she stayed in bed an hour and half longer than she usually did, but she had stayed up until 1:00 unpacking everything. She could have asked her parents for help and it would hardly have taken any time at all, but she liked the idea of doing her own work. Soon she were going to be out of school and on her own and she intended to take every opportunity to be independent until then. She got dressed in her favorite, slightly worn, pair of tennis shoes, some loose-fitting jeans, and a light blue T-shirt with midnight blue sleeves. The T-shirt had 'F&W' written across it, which was the abbreviated name of her old school. She then went over to her dresser. On it were two important things: her pocketknife, and her jewelry box. She put the knife in her front jean pocket and opened the jewelry box. The top compartment contained her necklaces, most of which were very similar to one another. They were different colors, but they were made the same way. She chose one of these that had sapphires and opal on it. It was pre-connected, so supposedly she was going to place it over her head. Instead, she wound it around her wrist. Jen had already made sure it wasn't going to tangle up, so if she pulled at it the right way it would come right off. She looked in the mirror that she had hung up over her dresser and used the brush and claw-clip that she had retrieved from the nightstand next to her bed to put her hair up. Her hair was medium-longish, going down to where her shoulder blades stopped. Even though from a distance both the streaks in her hair and the tips of it looked simply brown, if anyone got a good look at them, they would notice a slight bluish tint. That, along with the fact that it would get in her way otherwise, was the reason she almost always wore her hair up. Her oddities, of which there were many, were her own business and she had soon gotten sick of all the looks she received for her hair color. She found her watch and put it on as she went downstairs and out the door.

* * *

Harry woke up early, but felt unable to go back to sleep. Looking over at his clock, he saw that it was 6:45. He groaned and then rolled over, pulling the covers over his head. After a few minutes, he got up and put some reasonably clean clothes on. He looked over at the window as a snowy white owl flew inside the room. From the dead frog in her mouth, he guessed she'd been out hunting. He then started looking for his watch, only to realize that he had forgotten to take it off last night. He had the feeling that he'd dreamed something, but he couldn't remember what it was. However, he had the vague impression that it was something about Jen. Ever since he had gone back inside, he'd been trying to figure out something her. They had never seen each other before, but she seemed to know so much about him while he knew nothing about her. The only thing keeping him from thinking that she was a witch was that she seemed so comfortable, both in the muggle world and around him._ Maybe she just isn't from around here_ he thought. That would explain her being comfortable around him, and if her parents were muggles it would explain her feeling comfortable in a muggle neighborhood._ Then how does she know so much about me?_ He was still thinking about all this as he absentmindedly went out of his room, down the stairs, and out the door. As he looked up the sidewalk, he saw a girl walking down the street towards the park that was about a block away. _Jen_. He felt the same strange attraction he had felt the night before returning._ Maybe she's part veela or something._ He had to figure out more about her, and the best way to do that was to talk to her. He ran up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. A split second later, he was a little off balance, with a cord around his neck that was near choking him._ This can't be good…

* * *

_**AN:I know it's short, but I hope you all like it anyway.**


	3. Just An Accident

disclaimer: i own nothing of great value

* * *

The cord around Harry's neck tightened slightly. Not enough to choke him, but enough to let him know this person wasn't fooling around. "Who do you think you are sneaking up on a-…Harry!" a familiar voice said.

"Jen?" he realized that Jen's voice had come from behind him. Immediately the cord around his neck loosened. Just as it was about to be taken off of his neck completely, Harry grabbed it and spun around to face his attacker. He was surprised to only see Jen. He then looked down and saw that the cord that had moments earlier been wound about his neck had dark blue and white jewels on it. "What _is_ this?" he asked.

"My necklace," Jen responded, somewhat apologetically.

"Care to explain why your necklace was around my neck and about to cut off my air supply!" Harry questioned, though not as angrily as he normally would have been.

"I didn't know it was you," she explained. "I wasn't expecting anyone out this early on a Saturday, and it just startled me a little."

"'A little'? What would have happened if you had gotten _really _startled?" he asked, somewhat concerned about what the answer would be.

"The only time I would have been really startled is if I thought someone was following me," she replied.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Well I do have a pocket knife…" she then trailed off a bit.

"How relieving," he responded sarcastically. He was still a little surprised that he wasn't yelling his head off at her this very moment. Sure, it had been a simple misunderstanding, but he had blown his top at people for much less than almost strangling him recently. _And those people were my friends._ Getting mad at a complete stranger for this would have been slightly more justified. He then realized that she had said today was Saturday. He quickly counted the days that he had been back from Hogwarts off in his head. _Shit._ Today was Saturday alright, and that meant that if he went home anytime soon, he would have to spend all morning with the Dursleys. Maybe he could come up with an excuse to not come back to the house all day.

"Hey, I know this might not be the best time to ask, but do you think you could show me around the neighborhood? Y'know, so I don't accidentally attack anyone else that I shouldn't?" Jen asked, trying to lighten the mood. It was all Harry could do not to scoff at the last bit of what she said. Frankly, there were quite a few people he wouldn't mind her accidentally attacking. But, he realized, if he showed her around the neighborhood, he would use up a good couple of hours that he would otherwise spend with the Dursleys.

* * *

Harry had given Jen a funny look when she asked if he could show her around, but after a few seconds of what must have been careful deliberation, he said, "Sure. We're close to the park, so let's go there first."

"Sounds good," she replied, happy that Harry wasn't about to yell ather 'till he went hoarse about what happened. The two of them walked in the direction that Jen had originally been going. "So,"she asked, "is this a park like swings and junk or is it just a bunch of trees and benches and signs that say 'keep off grass'?"

"There is a little playground, but all of the swings are broken and the slides are made for three year-olds. There is also an area with a lot of trees in it. No 'keep off the grass' signs, though," he responded as the two teenagers rounded a corner at the end of the street. Down the street thatthey were now on, Jen saw a small park with a grove of trees right next to it.

Jen smiled, in love with the idea of climbing the large one the second she was close enough to do so. "Hey, Harry?"she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Can I have my necklace back?"

He looked down and realized that he had failed to return the necklace earlier. "Depends," he said seriously, "are you gonna attack me again?"

Now Jen really smiled; she was happy to see that Harry still had a sense of humor. "I'll do my best not to,"she answered. He rolled his eyes and handed it over. By now, the two of them were almost at the trees. Jen broke into a run and jumped on a large, thick branch that started out at a decent height in the tree, and then sloped down until it was about two feet off of the ground. Harry seemed surprised by her actions, and only more so when she started carefully walking towards the trunk of the tree. This tree was perfect for sitting in. From where Jen was, she could just see a branch through the foliage that looked like it would support the weight of two teenagers sitting on it. _Perfect._

"Jen," Harry's voice called, "what in the heck do you think that you're doing!"

"Climbing a tree,"she responded. "You should really try it; it's great." To her surprise, Harry went over to a spot where the branch was about three feet off the ground and climbed up. Soon, the two of them were sitting in the perfect spot: almost impossible to see unless you got right under it and looked directly up, and even then it wouldn't be really easy. Plus, it was strong enough for both to sit in without worry of the branch breaking.

"Where are you from?" Harry asked.

"Mars,"Jen responded without hesitation.

"I'm serious," he said, "Where?"

"Texas"

"You don't sound like you're from Texas," he replied.

"You mean I don't have that ridiculous drawl?"

"Erm, yeah," Harry said, apparently feeling stupid for asking.

"Sorry,"she said, "that came out wrong. What I mean is it sounds ridiculous when I try it. I know a lot of people that have a drawl. Sometimes I just get a little short with people for immediately thinking something's wrong with me if I'm from Texas and I don't drawl. I mean, I give much more valid proof than that."

Harry chuckled, seemingly relieved that she wasn't angry about it. He opened his mouth to say something else when a twig snapped below. Both Harry and Jen's heads shot down andthe two of them spotted a large, somewhat pig-like boy standing beneath the tree that Jen and Harry were sitting in. The boy seemed to be looking around for someone, and thankfully he hadn't noticed either of the two teenagers above him. From the look of absolute loathing on Harry's face, he knew this guy. Jen and Harry pulled their legs up as they had been dangling down over the branch. "Yo, D," a voice called, and a group of boys that all looked around the same age as Jen and Harry came walking up the street.


	4. Dudley and Friends

disclaimer: if i didn't own jkr's stuff before, why would i now?

* * *

"'Lo Piers, Malcolm, Gordon" 'D' called back. Jen looked down on four boys from a large oak tree that had small acorns growing all over the branches.

"Why the heck did you want us here so early, D? It's 7:30 on a Saturday during the summer," another boy complained.

"Piers said he had something important to tell us," 'D' replied.

"What is it Piers?" the boy asked again.

"You know how a new family moved in yesterday?"

"Yeah, what about 'em?" another boy asked. Jen couldn't figure out the names of two of the four boys, and looking at the four of them through the thick foliage of the tree she and Harry were sitting in didn't make it any easier.

"Did you see the family that moved in?" Piers asked, a smirk on his face. Jen had an idea where this was going, and for their sake she hoped she was wrong.

"Get on with it Piers!" one of the boys exclaimed.

"Keep your head on, Gordon," 'D' said, "it gets better. You were saying, Piers?"Jen could just tell which of the two unnamed boys had said that. _Three down, one to go. _

"As I was saying, did any of you see the family that moved in?"

"Does it bloody sound like we do?" the only boy she still didn't know the name of said.

"You better tell Malcolm and Gordon before they explode," 'D' said, a smirk to match Piers' on his face.

"Alright, fine," Piers sighed and then said excitedly, "There's a girl our age who is absolutely gorgeous! She was a little short, but she had these enormous-" He was cut off by a minute yet pointed acorn that was growing on the tree hitting him rather hard on the head, then another, then another. He would have gotten pelted by a few more if Harry hadn't restrained Jen. He gave her a look that said "do that much more and they'll see us". She knew he was right, but that didn't make her want to hurt them any less. By now the other three guys on the ground were cracking up.

"It's not funny, those things are ruddy sharp!" Piers muttered angrily. This just made the other three crack up more.Jen noticed that he had a pretty good scratch on the side of his face. _Serves him right. _"Fine, I won't tell you lot the rest then," Piers said.

Immediately, the laughing stopped. "There's more?" Malcolm asked.

"There's still the matter of how we get her," Piers stated. _Screw hitting him with acorns, where's my knife? _Jen reached into her pocket only to have Harry reach aroundher and grab her wrist, shaking his head. She rolled her eyes angrily and then looked back down at the morons. _Dead morons if they ever come near me_. However, she decided not to throw more stuff at the boys; it just wouldn't end well.

"'Get her?" Gordon inquired.

"Y'know, like one of us being her boyfriend," Piers responded. 'D' said something, but Jen couldn't quite hear it because of the height difference and the branches. Though from the laughter afterwards, both she and Harry had a pretty good idea about what he had said. "I figure one of us is bound to get her," Piers continued, "For one thing we're all great looking." If she hadn't been worried about them catching her and Harry,she would have cracked up then and there. "And for another thing the only other guy around our age is Potter, and it's not like he's gonna get her anytime soon." The rest of the boys chuckled. Logically it was Harry that they were talking about: he was the only boy their age that wasn't with them. Also, he wouldn't be hiding from them if he was in their crowd. This all made Jen even more ticked off, and Harry looked even angrier than before.

"I know," 'D' said smugly, "I'll suggest to my mum and dad that they invite the new neighbors over to dinner. I can charm her and screw up Potter's chances with her all at the same time." He had a triumphant grin on his face that Jen was just aching to smack off with a couple more acorns. The others congratulated him on a great plan and started back down the road that they had come up. By now Harry had both of her wrists in his hands and waited until the boys were around the corner to let go.

"I take it you know them,"she stated. Still resisting the urge to go off and throw more acorns at them, even though they were pretty far off by now.

"Yeah, the big one is my cousin, Dudley; the others are his friends," he responded as if he was repressing a great anger. Just then Jen's stomach growled loudly. "Hungry?" Harry asked, seemingly happy with a change in subject.

"How did you guess?"she responded. UsuallyJen had breakfast around 5:30 or 6, but she had gone straight outside today. It was now around eight, sos he had reason to be hungry. Since it was Saturday, her parents would probably be making breakfast and then head off to work at around twelve. On weekdays, they would both leave around nine. She was honestly surprised at how little their schedule had changed.

"Are you gonna leave then?" he queried.

"Yeah, let's go eat breakfast. I'm starving and you look like you could use a good meal,"Jen said. He looked very familiar to her and she knew he would always seem to be a little scrawny, it was just the way he was built, but it looked like he had been too miserable to eat an entire meal in about a week.

He looked a little confused and then said, "I'll just stay here. I really don't feel like seeing Dudley any time soon."

Now it was Jen's turn to be confused. "Why would Dudley be at my house?"she asked.

"Your house?"

"Yeah, I thought you might be able to finish showing me around the neighborhood after we both ate. If you have other plans I can understand, though."

"It's not that," Harry replied quickly, "I don't have anything to do. I just didn't expect you to invite me over."

Jen could tell that Harry seemed a little uncomfortable.She knew why. It was one of the things she hated about herself, but he would get over it in a day or so. The more time he spent with her, the sooner he would get over it. Most of the time Jen wouldn't have the patience to spend enough time with the person for them to get over it quickly, but Harry looked like he needed someone to be there for him without feeling sorry for him.She could sympathize; as much as Jen hated it when people couldn't understand why she felt the way she did,she hated it even more when they felt sorry for her.

* * *

Harry couldn't figure the girl out. One minute she was violent, ready to fight, and the next she was random and happy. If this had happened only once in the short time he had spent with her, he might not have been as confused by it. But it had happened twice in about the span of an hour. It was almost as if she was expecting a fight. He also felt the same, small attraction to her that her had felt the night before. He still had no idea why it was there at all. She was nice to him, and she looked nice, but he had still just met her. He decided he would write to Hermione about veela looking different if they were from different places. That could clear a few things up. _Wait, I can't do that_. He had been told not to send anything by owl because it could be intercepted. Supposedly he was going to be out of here so soon that it wouldn't matter, but for all he knew they would decide that it was safer for him to stay here for the whole summer. He felt anger rising at the thought of people deciding it was best for him to stay completely cut off from the world he belonged in.

"You ready to leave?" Jen asked, bringing Harry back to reality. Almost immediately, he felt his anger lessening. Why did she have this affect on him? She looked at him with knowing eyes. "It takes a little while to get used to it," she said calmly, almost soothingly. Now he could've sworn she was able to read minds.

In his confusion he flat out asked, "What?"

"Moving. Going to a new town. Meeting new people. It takes a little while to get used to it all," she responded and then said, "Sorry, I can be a bit random sometimes."

"Yeah, I've noticed," he replied, feeling somewhat happy now. The emotion seemed strange to him; he hadn't had much to be happy about for a while now. It seemed even stranger when he had been angry just minutes, possibly even seconds, ago. Being around this odd girl made him feel happy, though still a little strange. So far, she was definently leaning more towards being a witch, or perhaps something else, than being a muggle, but he couldn't be too sure just yet…


	5. Walking, Falling, Rolling

disclaimer: i still own nothing

* * *

Jen and Harry continued the trek down to her house. The two had been careful to make sure that they wouldn't encounter Dudley or his crew on the way back. _I hope Harry gets over this soon. _She knew she was going to have to be patient, but patience didn't come easily to her. Harry still seemed really uncomfortable around her and at the idea of going to her house, even if it was just to eat a quick breakfast. She was about to walk past the house right before hers when someone grabbed her arm. She spun around while making a fist and punched at the person who had grabbed her. Harry ducked just in time. "Harry! I'm so sorry; that's the second time today. I didn't think it was you."

"Who did you think it was then?" he asked while standing back up. He seemed more surprised than angry, though.

"Dudley or one of his stupid friends. I was worried that one of them might have ended up behind us and was going to try to start something," she explained.

"Oh. Sorry, I wasn't really thinking when I grabbed your arm. It's just that the curtains are drawn and if Dudley is already up, he's probably eating something. You were about to walk right in front of the window, so he would have seen you," Harry replied. He appeared even more worried than Jen was about Dudley seeing her.

This left them in a tight spot. If they walked by, Dudley might see Jen. If they crawled under the window, they would draw attention to themselves from the other neighbors. If they stood there too long trying to come up with a way to get to Jen's house unseen by Dudley, he or one of his friends might show up. From the look on Harry's face, Jen could tell he was coming to the same conclusions. "So, what do we do?" she asked, unsure of what their options were.

"No idea," he responded. "We could go around through the back…but the he might see us through another window. We could just run really fast-"

"-but then the movement would just draw his attention to us anyway," Jen finished.

After a few more seconds of thinking, Jen was ready to just walk by and knock Dudley's lights out if he came within five feet of her. _Probably not the best idea, but it would do wonders as far as anger management._ She smiled evilly at this thought. She was about to start walking right in front of the window when Harry exclaimed, "I know: I'll walk in front of the window and when Dudley leaves to do one thing or another that doesn't involve seeing what's in this window, I can tell you."

Jen frowned slightly, liking her idea of simply decking Dudley if he was stupid enough to come anywhere near her much better than Harry's plan. _Still, Harry's idea will probably end a little better. I need to keep up the cute and innocent charade as long as possible, even if it can't possibly last long. _"Wait, wouldn't Dudley think it a bit strange if you just stand there staring at him?"

"Yeah probably," Harry answered, "but Dudley and everyone else I this neighborhood already think I'm a freak. I'll just be proving them right."

"But isn't there a chance that Dudley might come outside and ask you what the hell you think you're doing?"

"You're right," he muttered, "Guess we should just walk by and punch him or something if he comes out." He didn't seem to have a real problem with that, but he did seem to think that there must be a better option.

"As much as I like that particular idea, I think with a little tweaking that yours would end better."

"Tweaking how?" he questioned.

"Just walk by," Jen responded, "If Dudley's there, warn me. If not, I'll just walk by, too."

"But what are you going to do if he's there?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"That bridge might come up pretty damn fast. You have to at least have some idea what you'll do if I see Dudley. Come to think of it, how am I supposed to tell you whether or not he's there?"

"Simple, if Dudley's there, you tell me to watch my step because there's a crack in the sidewalk. If he's not, point out how nice the weather is."

Harry stood there watching Jen with a funny look on his face. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but apparently decided against it. He shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts, then walked past the window, casually looking in as he strolled by. Jen began walking as she heard Harry say, "Jen, watch out. There's a big crack in the-" he didn't have time to finish as Jen tripped and ended up rolling along the sidewalk until she was completely out of Dudley's line of vision and about to roll right into Harry. "Are you alright!" he asked, apparently concerned.

"Never better," Jen replied as she jumped up from the ground. She fell so often when she just wasn't paying attention that she had perfected falling a certain way and making it look like an accident.

* * *

Harry walked along and looked in the window as he passed it. Sure enough, Dudley was in the kitchen eating a large plate of food. To his surprise, his aunt and uncle were up as well. He continued walking and then turned to see Jen also walking and Harry called out that there was indeed a crack in the sidewalk just as Jen tripped and rolled until she was almost to his feet, a good distance away from the window. His eyes widened in shock and he was immediately worried about the peculiar girl. "Are you alright?" he asked as she lifted up her head and looked in the direction of the window.

To his great surprise she jumped up and said that she was fine. She had a smile of accomplishment on her face and he realized that she must have fallen on purpose. He rolled his eyes. There was no telling what to expect with this girl. "Nice reflexes, by the way," she said, sending him out of yet another trance. He had been zoning out quite often; it was the best way for him to deal with all the pain he had felt recently. He gave her a confused look and she continued, "Ducking when I punched at you. You must have pretty good reflexes."

_She was definitely right about being random_. "Er…thanks," he replied, unsure of what to say. The whole her-almost-attacking-him-again thing was surprisingly unsurprising. After her little incident with Dudley and his crew, it could be expected that she would be on her toes. The strange thing was that she had been like this before she had ever even met Dudley. He and the other boys had obviously never seen her before last night, but it seemed like she must have had similar experiences since she seemed to have been expecting the to act in such a way. _Wait, when **did** Piers see her?_ If he had seen her with Harry, he surely would have told Dudley. "When did Piers see you?" he asked bluntly; there was no point in beating around the bush about this. They had both been continuing their short walk back to Jen's house, but as he asked this, they both stopped at her front porch.

"Last night," she said simply.

"When last night?" he asked curiously.

"A little after we both went inside. I saw a beautiful owl flying around and went outside to get a better look."

"Oh." Hedwig must have gone out hunting right after he'd gone inside. He hadn't really paid attention to his surroundings when he had gone back inside his room. He'd felt so tired that he had immediately gone to bed. Jen opened the front door and the two of them walked in.


	6. Mrs Davenport

**Dislcaimer**: Do you honestly think I am stupid enough to claim I own any of this? (besides Jen and her friends/family of course)

**A/N:** enjoy

* * *

Harry was about to walk through the door as he heard a rustling sound behind him. He quickly turned to see a cat running along the sidewalk. He guessed that it must be Mrs. Figg's, since she had quite a few. Mrs. Figg had been inviting him over to her house for tea every time she saw him over the course of the week that he'd been back. They would talk, but she refused to tell Harry anything that was going on. Harry suddenly remembered that others apart from Mrs. Figg had been watching him last summer and had probably been watching him this summer as well. The entire idea of having someone watch him and Jen was a bit unnerving. Whoever it was would probably have objections to him going into a stranger's house for breakfast, but that just fueled his will to do so. If they didn't like it, they could stop bloody watching him! He kept thinking about who it might be that was supposed to keep an eye on him until a hand started waving right in front of his face. He turned back around to see Jen, a somewhat amused smirk on her face. He smiled awkwardly; embarrassed that she had been watching him the entire time. She flashed a smile back and then walked back inside her house, gesturing for him to come as well.

"I think my parents might be up. Fair warning: most people think my mom a bit odd. Apparently she's the one I get it from," Jen told him once they went inside. She said it with a good-natured smile on her face, seemingly proud either that people apart from herself and Harry found her odd, or that her mother was as well. He gave her a quick smile and then looked around the room that they were currently standing in. He was surprised to find that seemingly everything had been unpacked, no cardboard boxes or bubble wrap whatsoever.

"You sure didn't waste any time unpacking," he pointed out, still feeling strange yet oddly comfortable around Jen. He felt a bit stupid for pointing out the obvious, but it was either this or pointing out how nice the weather was. _And the weather's not even that nice anymore. _He had noticed that it was beginning to get cloudy when he and Jen were walking back.

"Yeah, I stayed up until one or two unpacking the stuff in my room. I guess my parents did the rest last night and this morning," Jen replied. She gave him a reassuring smile as if she could tell he was uncomfortable. _Is it that bloody obvious? _he asked himself.

Just then a woman that looked somewhat like an older version of Jen walked in the room. "You're just in time for breakfast, Jen," she said cheerily. Turning to Harry she said, "Why hello there. You must be one of our new neighbors. I hope Jen had the manners to invite you to breakfast. I'm Vera Davenport, Jen's mother. Feel free to call me Mrs. Davenport or Vera, whichever you're more comfortable with." She said all this quickly, yet clearly, a look on her face that resembled Mrs. Weasley's. Harry was a bit surprised that she seemed so comfortable with a boy just showing up at her house with her daughter.

Before he had a chance to respond, Jen said, "Mom, you're scaring Harry. And what do you mean you hope I had the manners to invite him in? Why would he be in here if I didn't?" She said this as if she were insulted, but the smile on her face told Harry that she was joking.

Harry felt slightly less uncomfortable with the situation now that Jen and her mum were talking to each other instead of him. The two definitely resembled each other. At this point, Jen's mother was a bit taller, though Harry was still about as tall as her. She had brown hair and streaks that were slightly darker. The streaks in her hair caught Harry's attention. Unlike Jen, Mrs. Davenport had her hair down. In the light, Harry noticed that the streaks were not a darker brown, which is what he had thought they were at a quick glance, but purple!

"You two must be hungry," Mrs. Davenport said, apparently done playfully quarreling with Jen. Now Harry got a good look at her eyes and noticed that they too were purple. Not an overbearing, fake-looking purple, but a bluish-violet that was the same color as her streaks. "I decided to make a bit of a big breakfast, so it's a good thing that Jen brought a friend over." She turned and went back towards what Harry guessed was the kitchen. He looked at Jen warily and she gave him another reassuring smile. The two of them followed Mrs. Davenport into the kitchen.

* * *

Jen playfully argued with her mother, allowing Harry to adjust to the eccentric Vera Davenport. Unlike most teenagers, Jen greatly enjoyed the fact that her mother could be a bit odd. She was able to adjust to situations reasonably quickly and handle surprises with grace. She also had the patience that Jen had never managed to acquire herself. Only when Jen was in a situation where her patience was an absolute necessity was she have much. She noticed Harry give her mother a strange look and saw that his eyes were on her hair. Like Jen, Mrs. Davenport had oddly colored eyes and hair streaks. Both Mrs. Davenport's hair and eyes were dominated by the color purple, although her eyes seemed slightly more natural than her hair. The truth of the matter, both for Jen and her mother, was that both their hair and their eyes had never been colored artificially. Jen could get away with it more around most people because she was a teenager, but both of them normally had their hair up. Harry looked at her as if confused and she gave him a smile as if to say, "you have nothing to worry about" At least for now, Jen could consider such a thing the truth. As for the future, she wasn't as sure…

* * *

**A/N:** hope you all liked it. please review. 


	7. Dinner Plans

**Dislcaimer**: Do you honestly think I am stupid enough to claim I own any of this? (besides Jen and her friends/family of course)

A/N: sorry if this is short, hope you like it

* * *

Jen and Harry sat at the table while Jen's mom finished up the pancakes that she was making. It was almost as if her mom had been expecting Jen to show up with Harry. _Come to think of it, she probably was._ Jen noticed her very tired father across the table. He had bags under his eyes and looked as if he had hardly slept at all. Unlike Jen and her mother, who were both night-owls and could do easily with only a few hours of sleep, Jen's father needed either seven or eight hours of sleep or a couple of cups of coffee to be fully awake; sometimes both. She was surprised that her parents had unpacked the hard way; usually she was the only one stubborn enough to do that. Jen's mom set a mug of coffee along with the pot down in front of her husband and set a mug of lightly steaming liquid down in front of Jen. She looked at her mother gratefully, glad that one of them hadn't forgotten.

* * *

Jen looked across the table at who Harry guessed was her father. The two didn't look very much alike, and the man seemed to have gotten very little sleep. Then Mrs. Davenport set a mug of coffee along with a pot of it on front of the man and a cup of what Harry guessed was tea in front of Jen. "Well Harry," Mrs. Davenport said, drawing his attention away from Jen, "we've got coffee, milk, orange juice, apple juice, and I think some tea to drink. What would you like?"

"Tea please," he replied. He then turned back to Jen and watched as she held her nose and downed whatever was in her mug in one gulp. She cringed a little at the taste and then grabbed a piece of bacon from the plate in the middle of the table. "What _is_ that?" he asked, only afterwards realizing how rude it must have sounded.

"Some absolutely disgusting stuff that I have to take once a week for my allergies," she said convincingly, but for some reason Harry got the impression that she was lying. _Well, if she is lying, she's a good liar. _She gave him another small smile and he returned it. As he did so, his scar twinged a bit. He inadvertently rubbed at it, knowing that it wouldn't do anything for the pain. "You're head hurt?" Jen asked. She had a knowing look on her face, and Harry wanted to at least have an idea just how much she knew.

"Just a bit," he responded.

"I'm pretty good at acupressure. If you want I could try a bit to see if it would help."

"Isn't that the thing where someone sticks a bunch of needles in you to somehow relieve pain?" he asked cautiously.

She gave a small, soft chuckle and then said, "That's acu_puncture_ acu_pressure_ is very similar, but without the needles."

Harry doubted it would help, but it was worth a try. "Sure," he replied. Mrs. Davenport then set a plate of pancakes and a mug of tea in front of Harry and a plate of pancakes along with a glass of milk in front of Jen. Jen grabbed the blueberry syrup and smothered her pancakes in it before offering it, along with the maple syrup, to Harry. He took the maple syrup and poured a bit on his pancakes.

Just as Mrs. Davenport was about to sit down and eat her breakfast, the phone rang. Harry and Jen exchanged looks, apparently thinking along the same lines. "Hello, Davenport residence, Vera speaking," Mrs. Davenport said as she picked up the phone. It was surprising how quickly her demeanor had changed. She had gone from being the odd, happy woman she had been minutes ago to a proud, somewhat snooty woman who socialized with people like his aunt.

Jen mouthed something like, "She's a good actress." She then winked and looked back at her mother.

"-Well it's nice to meet you, Petunia."

Jen looked at Harry with a questioning look in her eyes. Harry nodded and Jen got up, returning seconds later with a piece of paper and a crayon. She began writing something on it.

"-My, what an interesting way to get a phone number."

Jen added what Harry guessed were exclamation points. _Either that or she's trying to stab an inanimate object with a dull crayon._

"-Dinner tonight at six?"

Now Jen began frantically waving the paper, trying to get her mother's attention with it. Her mother rolled her eyes and then returned to speaking with his aunt. Jen let the paper drop and Harry saw that it said "NO BLOODY WAY!" He suppressed a chuckle.

"-We'd be happy to come."

Jen scribbled something else on the back of the paper. This time Harry looked over her shoulder. The paper now said, "Have fun; no way in hell I'm going"

Before Jen got a chance to show her mother the new message, she said, "-Why yes, we do have a daughter around your boy's age. How did you know that?" she inquired politely.

Jen gave her mother a puppy dog look, which was returned with her mother giving her a smile and mouthing "sorry"

"-Well I'm sure she'd be happy to come."

Jen heaved a loud sigh and then let her head fall on the table as a sign of defeat. Or, at least, it would have landed on the table, had it not landed on the syrupy plate of pancakes that were still sitting in front of Jen. Jen's mum had just finished her conversation and started trying to suppress her laughter. Her father snorted into his coffee. Harry tried as hard as he could to keep a strait face, but it was no use.

"Just what I needed," came a muffled voice from Jen's direction. Now none of the other three could keep in their laughter. It was the first time Harry had really laughed in months. Jen lifted her head up; her face was now almost the color of her eyes, only slightly more purple. Now everyone laughed even harder, even Jen chuckled a bit. "So why exactly did you include me in this?" she asked her mother, who had just recovered from her laughing fit.

"That woman talked about how her 'absolutely wonderful' boy had noticed you last night as you were outside and that he 'just loved making new friends' and would be happy to introduce you to all the people your age so you wouldn't 'feel left out'. Apparently he's 'quite the little gentleman' and is 'very popular around the neighborhood'. It seemed like the best idea for you to come along; we want to start out on the right foot."

"Well I can see where he gets his modesty. And as for starting out on the right foot: I'm very likely to start out the evening by stepping on his," Jen said forcefully. Obviously she wasn't too fond of Dudley. Still, Jen's mum had a good point; they should try to put off making enemies with any of the neighbors as soon as possible. Though if they were nice to Harry, The other neighbors wouldn't like them for long.

After Harry and Jen finished eating, and Jen cleaned all the syrup from her face, Jen lead Harry into the sitting room. "Just sit down and relax," Jen instructed. _Easier said than done. _Still, Harry did as he was told at sat on the sofa. Jen sat down next to him, telling him to close his eyes. He was nervous about what was going on, but something about her voice calmed him. At this point he just barely noticed the pricks of pain his scar was giving him. He closed his eyes and heard Jen's voice telling him again to relax. Then he felt two soft, yet surprisingly strong, hands massaging his temples. One of the hands moved slowly to his scar, an area he had always been strangely protective of. He moved his head slightly, so that Jen's hand wouldn't touch it. He heard what he thought was a soft chuckle before the hand that had been about to touch his scar returned to what it had been doing. "It'll feel better if you let me do this without jerking around," Jen's peaceful voice said. Her hand moved once again to his scar, but this time he resisted the urge to move his head away. He felt a small tingling sensation on his scar. After a few seconds, the tingling subsided and his head felt completely clear and painless for the first time in weeks.

"How did you do that," he asked.

"Acupressure."

"Every time my head hurts I rub it, but it never does any good."

"Acupressure isn't just rubbing it. It's using pressure points to relieve tension. Also, you can't get your arms in the right angle from your head for acupressure to work on it," she countered. It seemed logical enough, and her definition of acupressure seemed accurate enough. Still, he had the strange feeling that she was hiding something from him. It wasn't that she had said it in a way that would have made it obvious she wasn't telling the truth. It was on a deeper level that he felt something. Either way, he was too grateful for the pain in his head to be relieved to care very much.

* * *

A/N: enjoy and review 


	8. Forks

Disclaimer: i own nothing

A/N: people, REVIEW! i want to know what you think

* * *

A little while after Jen helped Harry with his headache, he said that he needed to get back to his house, but that he would hopefully see her tonight. Jen didn't ask any questions about what he meant by that; she already had a pretty good idea. Now it was about ten to six, and Jen was almost finished getting ready. Her parents had come back from work around five; Jen's mom had been grumbling about her new boss. _Stupid idiot. _Jen knew that the thought was redundant, but that didn't change how she felt. Mrs. Davenport's new boss had been reluctant to hire her, even though her old employer had personally told him that she was one of the most qualified people he had ever met. It didn't change anything; her new boss knew about her, and he was afraid. It angered Jen that people would let someone as biased as that be in charge. She refocused on getting ready. She had decided to dress nicely: a pair of jeans that was more form-fitting than what she usually wore, a halter-top floral-print dress, some nice sandals that complemented the quick pedicure Jen had given herself, a necklace with emeralds wound around her wrist, and a pair of flower earrings. "Jenna, are you ready to go?" her mother called.

"Yeah, mom," Jen called back, stepping into her sandals and heading downstairs. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Harry was between anger and excitement. He was excited because, surprisingly, he had been told that he was to attend a dinner with the new neighbors. Even more surprisingly, his uncle hadn't asked him where he had been. Also, his aunt had gone out and bought some shirts and pairs of jeans that would actually fit him. This was also where the being angry part started. After handing Harry the shopping bags, his uncle had given him a lecture, telling him that he was not to wear his old, ratty outfits and that he was to take care of the new clothes so that they would stay presentable. Apparently, not only was his uncle under the impression that Harry actually chose to wear Dudley's old clothes, but the only reason that Harry was getting new clothes that actually fit was to make sure that the Dursleys impressed the neighbors. And, in Harry's opinion, the only reason that he wasn't expected to go into his room and pretend he didn't exist again was that the Davenports were staying and would eventually notice him anyway. _Or they might just be afraid that I'll drop a cake on someone's head. _He almost chuckled at the thought, almost. "Boy, get downstairs! The neighbors will be here any minute," his loud uncle yelled. He rolled his eyes and walked down the stairs

Harry's aunt was wearing a lavender sundress with matching high heels. His cousin was wearing slacks and a button-up shirt that stretched around his massive stomach. His uncle was wearing a similar outfit. Soon enough, the Davenports had arrived. Mr. and Mrs. Davenport were dressed for the occasion, wearing similar outfits to his uncle and aunt. Jen was wearing…_Wow._ Jen looked amazing. She gave him a smile and then a quick wink when no one was looking.

"Oh, hello. Vera, it's so nice to meet you in person," Harry's socialite aunt began, "This is my husband, Vernon," she said indicating to his uncle, "our nephew, Harry," she continued, with much less enthusiasm, "and this," she said with a grand flourish towards Harry's oversized cousin, "is our son, Dudley." She ended her little speech with a smile, waiting for Jen's mother to introduce her family.

"Well, this is my husband, Mark, and our daughter, Jen," Mrs. Davenport replied, a smile on her face to match his aunt Petunia's. Harry's uncle shook hands with Mr. And Mrs. Davenport and Dudley made to shake hands with Jen.

* * *

Everyone went through the normal greeting rituals: introducing each other, shaking hands, fake smiles, all the good stuff. Jen noticed that Harry was actually wearing clothes that weren't about to fall off of him. She smiled and gave him a wink while everyone else was exchanging greetings. Then Dudley held his hand out to shake Jen's. _Must…resist…urge…to…break…wrist…_ Jen was still angry about what had happened earlier that morning, but if anyone found out that she knew what had been going on between Dudley and his friends, there would be a number of problems. She extended her hand to shake his, but instead of him shaking her hand, he took it in his own and kissed it. _Ewwww! Gross gross gross gross gross gross!_ She resisted the urge to rub her hand off on something, or wash it off, or rub it off with disinfectant, or… Anyway, Jen was disgusted, but tried not to show it. "My, what the little gentleman," the voice of Petunia Dursley said. Jen tried not to roll her eyes.

Everyone then sat down to eat, and Jen ended up between Harry and Dudley. Harry gave her a sympathetic look once the adults started talking, Jen returned it. "So, Jen, how old are you?" Dudley asked rather pompously.

"Sixteen, I'm going to be seventeen this October. What about you two?" she asked, looking from Dudley to Harry and attempting to ignore Dudley's attitude.

"I'm sixteen as well," Dudley replied, and the before Harry could say anything, "Potter's only fifteen." He indicated to Harry.

"Thanks, Dud. Couldn't have said that myself," Harry said sarcastically.

Dudley ignored Harry's comment and continued the "conversation", "What school did you go to?"

"A small school in Texas called FW."

Jen was expecting him to brag about whatever school he went to, but instead he replied, "You lived in Texas? Why don't you sound like a hick then?" Harry was wide-eyed and Jen had to set her soup spoon down because she was gripping it so hard that it was beginning to bend. The adults seemed oblivious to the conversation that the teenagers were having, but Jen's mom gave her a quick look as if to calm her down.

Harry opened his mouth as if to yell at Dudley for saying such a thing, but Jen started a conversation with him instead, "So, Harry, you don't look much younger than me. When's your birthday?"

"The end of July, yours?" Harry responded.

"The end of October."

"Mine's in-" Dudley started, but got cut off.

"So, how has your summer been so far?" Jen asked.

"Pretty good, but it's only been summer for a week."

Dudley's parents seemed to notice that he was being left out of the conversation. Mr. Dursley announced proudly, "Our Dudley is school wrestling champion. Beaten everyone in the area, he has." Jen could have sworn that she heard Harry mutter something about beating up ten year-olds, but if he did, she was the only one who heard it.

"Wrestling?" Jen asked, with the proper amount of enthusiasm. Dudley nodded and Jen said, "Wow, that's quite an accomplishment. I was champion for dueling at my old school. I was also on the archery and martial arts teams." Harry gave Jen an impressed look. She smiled back.

The adults resumed their conversation, and the teenagers resumed theirs. "Dueling?" Harry asked, still looking impressed. Jen noticed that Dudley did as well.

"Yeah. Sword fighting: I always loved it. I'm not great, but I'm good enough."

Finally the evening seemed bearable, and Jen was just starting to enjoy herself when she felt a hand on her knee. She looked down and saw that Dudley was laying his hand on her leg casually, looking at her as if he was doing nothing that would be considered offensive. Jen plastered a large, fake smile on her face and asked Dudley through clenched teeth, "What in the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Why, nothing," he replied innocently.

"Let me rephrase that: you are doing something, and it's something that you had better stop doing _right now_ or else."

"Or else what?" he asked somewhat teasingly. He moved his hand a little further up her leg and squeezed.

"Or else I'll stab your hand with this!" she said, still clenching her teeth together to avoid drawing attention to herself. She picked up a fork and held in menacingly in her hand. By now, Harry had noticed something was wrong and was giving Dudley the evil-eye.

"Now really, _Jenny, _there's no need to be violent," Dudley responded. He moved his hand up a little further so that it was now obviously on her thigh. The movement, along with his calling her Jenny, pushed her over the edge. With more force than she had originally intended, Jen jabbed the fork at his hand. He yelped and drew his hand back quickly.

In the confusion, Harry managed to spill some of his soup on himself. "Oh, Harry, let me help you with that," Jen said, getting up and grabbing Harry's wrist to lead him into the kitchen before anyone could protest.

Once the two of the were in the kitchen, Harry immediately turned his full attention to Jen. "What happened?" he asked urgently, "Are you okay? What did Dudley do? Was that _blood _on his hand?"

"Harry," Jen said while getting a wet paper towel and handing it to him to clean the soup off with, "one question at a time. I'm fine, at least I am now. Dudley tried to hit on me and it pissed me off. I stabbed him with my fork after telling him to knock it off three or four times, so that probably was blood on his hand."

"He was hitting on you?" Jen nodded. "As in being grabby?" he asked. looking for clarification. Jen nodded again."Ruddy bastard!" Harry exclaimed. He opened his mouth to ask Jen another question when someone else walked into the kitchen…


	9. Dont' Call Me Jenny!

Dislaimer: i own a chocolate bar; it's yummy

A/N: YAY! REVIEWS! because i got 2 reviews for part 8, i putting up part 9! thanks so much to those of you who reviewed

* * *

Dudley walked into the kitchen grasping his hand. "What in the hell did you think you were doing!" he asked Jen angrily.

"Why, nothing," she replied, a perfect imitation of Dudley moments ago. Harry chuckled a little bit. "What's so funny, Potter?" Dudley spat.

"A lot of things actually," Harry replied, "but I can't decide which is funniest: the fact that you think Jen is somehow in the wrong here, or the fact that you actually thought you were going to get away with trying to hit on her." Now Jen chuckled as well.

"How was I supposed to know that she was a violent little bitch?" Dudley asked. Harry looked like he was about to explode.

"Take that back NOW Dudley, or else," Harry threatened. Instead of a "smart" remark, Dudley merely glared at Harry. _Just what I effing need, _Jen thought while rolling her eyes.

"You think you're such a big man. If she knew what you really were she would freak out. I could tell her, you know. I could tell her all about you being-" Dudley got cut off again.

"You really want to finish that sentence, Dud?" Harry asked balefully. _The idiots forgot that I'm standing here. Honestly, do they think I'm stupid or something?_ Jen rolled her eyes again and then let her attention return to the boys that were arguing in front of her. _Now why in the world would I have déjà vu?_ she thought sarcastically.

"-she wouldn't get within five feet of you is she knew what your school is like," Dudley claimed.

"Yeah, well she already doesn't want to be within _ten_ feet of you," Harry shot back.

_Alright, enough is enough. _With practiced skill, Jen let out a long, loud whistle. Harry and Dudley both turned their heads to Jen, shutting up immediately. "Oh, that must be the tea," Petunia Dursley's voice said, "I'll just go and get that." The normally calm woman came in looking livid. _Just what I need right now. _"_What_ on Earth on going on!" she asked. _Honestly, Penny, you don't want to know._ Jen kept her thoughts to herself, however.

"Nothing. Mum," Dudley replied. Apparently even he wasn't stupid enough to tell his mother what had happened.

Mrs. Dursley seemed surprised at he son's response, but obviously didn't care enough to question it. "Well then get back in the kitchen," she said, somewhat exasperatedly. The three teenagers did as they were told.

* * *

Harry's P.O.V.

Harry couldn't believe Dudley. Not only had he had the nerve to hit on Jen, but he had then almost told her the truth about Harry and his past. Luckily, the three of them were now in the kitchen, the rest of the adults completely unaware of what had been going on. _Probably better that way._ He looked over at Jen and saw that she was eyeing Dudley with both anger and suspicion. Harry didn't blame her. Actually, he started doing the same thing until he heard a light cough. Harry looked over and saw Mrs. Davenport giving him and Jen a warning look. His aunt came in and cleared out the plates. _I guess dinner is over._ Harry really couldn't have cared less. His aunt came back in with a large cake and some dessert plates. Dessert went slowly, with Jen looking deliberately at Harry and "accidentally" kicking Dudley from time to time. Finally it was over and the adults were going into the sitting room to have coffee and talk. "Mother, Father," Jen asked in an almost sickeningly sweet tone, "is it all right if I go outside for a quick walk around the neighborhood? I know it's a little late, but this neighborhood is so sound that I'm sure I'd be safe." She ended with a smile that Harry knew had to be fake.

"Sure sweety," Jen's dad replied, his voice somewhat deep, "just make sure not to stay out too late."

"I can escort her around the neighborhood if you want, Mr. Davenport," Dudley said. _Stupid little suck up. Two can play at this game._

"That's okay, Dud. I'll do it so you can go relax," Harry said, hoping he sounded sincere.

His uncle looked as if he was about to speak, but before he could Jen squealed, "Oh, we'll all go. It'll be so fun." Harry was surprised that she could be such a believable ditz. _Maybe **this** is the real Jen,_ he thought pessimistically. Still, he doubted that the Jen that had thrown acorns at Piers and let her face fall in a plate of pancakes had been an act.

* * *

Jen's P.O.V.

"-That's okay Dud," Harry said, "I'll do it so you can relax." Vernon Dursley opened his mouth to protest, but before he had a chance to, Jen actually managed to squeal, "Oh, we'll all go. It'll be so fun." She did her best to keep the big, cheesy smile on her face, but the thought of being anywhere near Dudley was enough to make her scream. She also noticed Harry frowning. Did he really have that little confidence in her? Did he really think she was truly like this? Now she was really in a bad mood. This was all Dudley's fault. He invited her over; he hit on her, and now he actually intended to walk around the neighborhood with her! _I'm not going to be able to take much more of this…

* * *

_

Harry's P.O.V

The three teenagers went out the door. Once they were far enough from they house, Dudley opened his mouth to start yelling, but Jen beat him to it, "What in the hell did you think you were doing! Didn't I already make it clear to you that I don't want you anywhere near me, Dursley! The cute and innocent act only happens in front of adults. If you think the fork thing was harsh, just try pissing me off again. I for one will be surprised if you don't end up in the hospital for it! And as for the whole 'violent bitch' thing: did you honestly think I wasn't aware of that already! It's adding insult to injury to patronize my intelligence like that!"

Dudley, who had originally been angry for Jen beating him to the punch, was dumbstruck. Sadly, the affect was only temporary, "I was thinking that I would tell you off for stabbing me with your fork like that! Obviously, you aren't very smart because you're stupid enough to be messing with me like this. I'll make this clear to you here and now, Jenny: you can't take me, so don't try."

Jen looked beyond pissed now. She jumped up just high enough to punch Dudley square in the jaw. There was a resounding crack and Dudley stumbled backwards into a tree trunk. He was now leaning up against it as Jen stomped over and grabbed the collar of his shirt. She pulled it towards her so that the she and Dudley were eye level. "Do. Not. Call. Me. Jenny." she stated dangerously. With that she let go of his collar, her fingers just barely brushing up against his face.

Whatever pain Dudley seemed to have been experiencing was gone. He stood up to his full height and looked angrily from Jen to Harry. "You'll regret this," he said before walking away.

* * *

Jen's P.O.V.

Jen and Harry eventually went back to their houses, and now Jen was pacing around her room. _Stupid git, why couldn't he have just left us alone._ She had fractured Dudley's jaw. The crack she had heard proved that. Then she had had to fix it without either of them noticing. _I still blame Dudley. It's all that fat idiot's fault. _Still, she should have been able to control her anger enough to not break any bones. Had she not fixed it, questions would have been asked. The answers to some of those questions might very well have been deadly. She doubted that Dudley would actually tell anyone, but he might try to figure it out for himself. She definitely didn't look strong enough to fracture bones with one punch. She hoped that he would just leave her and Harry alone, but she doubted that such a thing would happen. _How long until Harry finds out about me?_


	10. Sitting in a tree

A/N: yay! reviews! i'm so happy! anyway, i want to know what most people think of the person's P.O.V. things. some people that beta these have told me that i should specify whose point of view it is, but if most of you find it annoying, i can delete them. if you would be so kind as to put in your reviews whether or not you want them, i'd greatly appreciate it.

disclaimer: i still just own jen & co.

* * *

Over the next two weeks, the teenagers had grown close. Harry sat in his room, musing over the day after the dinner fiasco. He had decided to go for a walk, having nothing better to do at 7:00 in the morning. Without really thinking about it, he walked back to the tree he and Jen had been sitting in the morning before. Not having anything better to do, he climbed up, only to see Jen looking off into the foliage, though not seeming to see anything

"I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to get here," she had said, still looking off into the distance.

"What?" how did she know he was coming?

"I saw you under this branch. You took your time climbing up."

Afterwards, the two had sat on the branch, watching the leaves change color as the sun rose. She had pointed out that during the summer, the sun began rising at 6:30. He had come back around the same time the next day; she had been there. It was the same the next day, and the next day. It was almost as if she was waiting for him, expecting him to come.Neither of them brought up the other's past; neither of them wanted to remember the past. Although Jen had never told Harry that her past was upsetting, or even that she had anything to hide about it, he could tell that something about it upset her. She wasn't the type to show her emotions to every little thing, but Harry had picked up how to read subtle things. In fact, he had picked it up from her. She had a way of giving off random little factoids that at the time seemed unimportant, but eventually gave way to bigger things. Once she had pointed out that if you really wanted to know what someone thought of what you had just said to watch their eyebrows. He had dismissed it as Jen just being Jen, but she had been right. The next day, his uncle had told him to get the mail. Harry's attitude retuned and he had said no very coolly while watching his uncle for a reaction. At a glance, it would have seemed as if his uncle was controlling his emotions rather well: no yelling, no threats, no slamming his fist on the table. But, for a split second, Harry had seen his uncle's eyebrows come together in a way that Harry knew to be absolute rage. Upon looking more closely at his uncle's facial expression, Harry had noticed that his uncle was glaring at the same spot of the paper that is eyes had been on for the past five minutes. Also, he was slightly more purple than usual. It turned out that Jen was simply full of little ways that helped one read into people. Paying attention to the emphasis on certain words, watching a person's forehead, and paying attention to what a person did with their hands while they were speaking with you helped to give you an impression of just how much truth was in what a person was telling you.

* * *

_Another Saturday, another week passed that nothing has happened. Still, Dudley's on to something. Eventually he's going to find something out, and he might even tell Harry. _Either way, Harry was going to find out, so why not tell him now? _Because a) he wouldn't believe me b) even if he did believe me, he'd be scared and/or angry at me for not telling him sooner, and c) I'm not ready to explain everything yet. _Jen stopped pacing around her room and walked down the stairs and outside while checking her watch to see that it was 5:50. 

A little while after Jen climbed up, she heard the sounds of someone climbing up the tree. Jen had been lying down on the large branch and staring up at what she could see of the sky through the thick foliage, and lifted her head up just enough to see Harry clambering up the tree.

"Jen, what are you doing?" he asked in disbelief. She were really going to have to keep track of how many times she got him to do that.

"Staring at the tree and the sky," Jen replied.

"How are you balancing?"

"By not moving too much."

'You do know you're going to end up falling, right?"

"It's a possibility," she responded indifferently, now looking at him instead of the sky. He rolled his eyes and sat down next to her while she sat up.

The two of them sat and watched the sunrise, hardly speaking the entire time. There was something calming for Jen in knowing that she would get to see it every day. It would always happen. In such chaotic times as these, it was nice to know that some things would stay the same, even if it was something so seemingly unimportant.

* * *


	11. Let's bake cookies

disclaimer: i don't own harry&co.

* * *

The rest of the day passed somewhat quickly, most of it consisting of Jen and Harry sitting in the tree and talking. "I'm hungry," she said, interrupting the silence that had been held for about ten minutes. It wasn't that the two teenagers didn't enjoy speaking to each other, it was just that they both needed some quiet in their day, just a little time to think. 

"And?" Harry responded lazily, he was leaning up against the tree trunk and staring up. Jen had been very happy when she first noticed that he was starting to get comfortable around her. Now it was normal for one of the two to come up with jokingly sarcastic comments when the other said something that was hard to respond to.

"Let's go back to my house; I can fix us something."

"Sure your parents won't mind you getting the kitchen all dirty?"

"For one thing: my parents aren't going to be home until at least nine, probably later. For another thing: I usually do a pretty good job with cleaning the kitchen once I'm done with it." Harry already knew both of these things, he just enjoyed picking at Jen for the messes she tended to make while cooking. "Hey, you know what would be fun?" she asked.

"Do I want to?" he responded with mock concern. He also enjoyed picking at her for all of the strange things she considered fun. It wasn't that others didn't consider them fun as well, it was just that they were spread over a wide spectrum of activities. For example: cooking and fighting, arguing and reading, and tree climbing and sword fighting.

"We should bake cookies," Jen said.

"And the fun part is…?"

"We can eat them afterwards," she suggested.

Harry pretended to be in deep concentration before replying, "Sure, why not?"

* * *

"Hey, you know what would be fun?" Jen asked excitedly. 

"Do I want to?" Harry asked back, pretending to be worried. He and Jen would playfully pick on each other a lot of the time. He wasn't sure exactly when it had started, but he thought it had something to do when she had brought up that he seemed scrawny. He had been angered and shot back that she had a serious attitude and violence problem. Instead of the anger he had expected, she had only laughed and replied that she did indeed and that he was still scrawny. Their mock arguments helped in a lot of ways: he was becoming less uncomfortable around Jen, it was a great way to vent anger without actually angering anyone else (although he still shot off at Dudley plenty), and it gave him something to concentrate on besides the looming thought of death. He still mourned the loss of his godfather, Sirius, who was the closest thing to a father Harry ever had. The thought that the only person who had ever seemed to care for him so had been cruelly taken away always angered him greatly.

Still, even when he showed up completely ready to blow because of how unfair life seemed, Jen would be there. It seemed odd: the girl would go off and give him a run for his money as the person with the biggest anger problem, but then she would listen calmly to him rant about random things. Whenever he complained about how terrible something was, she would look at him with knowing eyes and listen. It was the only time she wouldn't interrupt him. When he was done, she would give him a small, oddly reassuring smile, and then point out something that would distract him from his other, his real, life.

The two agreed to go back to her house to bake cookies, something that Harry himself had never done. He was about to climb down when he saw Jen jump right from the branch. His eyes widened, expecting her to sprain her ankle from the fall. She seemed to glide through the air as she fell. Once she hit the ground, she started going forward while she went up onto the tips of her toes. He realized that she had used the momentum from the fall up by both going forward and raising herself up instead of tumbling to the ground.

* * *

Jen jumped down from the branch with practiced skill, hardly touching the ground before she put her energy into pushing back off of it. It took long enough, but after a while she had gotten used to timing bending her knees so that her legs wouldn't get hurt in the sudden change of direction. Jen looked up into the branches, just barely able to make out Harry's face. He seemed impressed. 

Harry decided to use the safer, and therefore wiser, way of climbing down the tree as the two of them normally did. Jen shot him a quick smile and the two teenagers walked over to Jen's house. The two were almost there when something pushed Jen down…

* * *

A/N: thanks for reading, please review! 


	12. I'm going for a walk

disclaimer: still don't own anything but this fanfic

* * *

Jen's first reaction would have been to pull her knife on whoever shoved her down, but she could tell it was Harry lying in the ground next to her. The two were now behind a bush of some sort, with Harry holding on to Jen. She turned her head to look him in the eye and gave him a look that made it clear how she felt about being tackled behind a bush and then being held on to; he let go. Jen opened her mouth to yell at him, but he put a finger to his lips and looked at her worriedly. She kept quiet, but glared at him a bit. _What the hell is going on?_ Jen heard a door open. _And who the hell would be up at his time of day?_ It was still only about 6:30 in the morning.

* * *

Harry and Jen were walking down the sidewalk and almost at Jen's house when he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and looked into the window of the house they were walking in front of. Dudley was walking around the kitchen, and he looked like he had just finished eating. _Shit._ Harry did the only thing he could think of: he grabbed Jen and dove behind the bushes that were in front of the house. He only realized after diving behind the bushes with Jen that she would probably attack him for it. For a millisecond she tensed as if she was going to, but instead she turned her head around a little bit and gave him a death glare. He immediately let go, but put his finger to his lips to try and keep her from yelling. _She can yell at me later; right now I need to make sure Dudley doesn't notice her._ He heard the sounds of someone coming out the door and guessed that it was Dudley coming out. Even though he was no longer holding on to Jen, they were still close enough to each other that he could tell she had tensed when the door had opened. _It's probably more from anger than fear, though._ He doubted Jen ever was or ever would be intimidated by Dudley. 

Still, Dudley was up to something; Harry could tell he was. Dudley had been talking to his gang even more often than usual and it had to have something to do with Jen. Dudley wasn't one to let his pride get hurt like that and then do nothing about it. There was a sound of footsteps as whoever had come outside made their way down the sidewalk. It sounded as if two people were talking about something and soon the footsteps died off. When Harry was sure that Dudley, along with whoever he had been talking to, was gone, he got Jen's attention. She seemed a little calmer now.

* * *

Someone went out the door of the house Jen and Harry had been about to walk in front of. _Well, that explains Harry tackling me. _The footsteps faded off and the two got up. "What was the fat git doing up at this time anyway?" Jen asked. 

"Not sure," Harry replied, sounding distant.

"Well, you seem to have an idea, so tell me what it is," she said.

"Jen it's not important," Harry responded, seeming agitated.

"Then it won't matter if you tell me."

"It also won't matter if I don't."

"Yes it will," you replied firmly.

"How?" he queried.

"I'm a nosy little bitch who gets violent if not told every little thing," Jen stated.

"You can say that again," he said, rolling his eyes. He had gotten a lot better about his temper.

"Or, I can just prove it," she declared, stepping in front of him with a dangerous glint in her eye.

Harry glared at Jen and said, or rather yelled, "Look, it's not important, so just drop it! Honestly, do you not trust that I would tell you if it was important enough? Do you really think I'm that stupid?" _Okay, so his attitude hasn't gotten **that** much better._

Jen rolled her eyes and replied, "For the most part, I don't think you're stupid. However, at this particular moment in time, you happen to be acting like a bit of a git. I already told you, I'm nosy. Plus, the way you're looking at me makes it seem like it has something to do with me. Now even though for the most part, I enjoy fighting, I think it would be a better idea if we both just stopped yelling right now. If Dudley or one of his friends hears us, I'll have a whole group of gits to deal with." Harry just looked at her for a bit, but eventually nodded.

The two teenagers continued down the sidewalk, finally making it into Jen's house. "Alright, what kind of cookies do you wanna make?" she asked, hoping Harry would follow the suit and not be angry.

"Which do you want to make?" he asked; his tone wasn't happy, but it wasn't pissed off either. _I gu_ess_ indifferent is better than angry, for now at least._

"How about chocolate-chip, chocolate-chunk, white-chocolate cookies?"

"I don't know, you think there's enough chocolate in them?" he responded somewhat sarcastically. Still, he seemed to be in an increasingly better mood.

"Well, if there's not, we can always add more." This time he chuckled.

After a few hours, a little stirring, a little baking, a little cleaning, and a gigantic flour-fight later, the pair was in an overall good mood. "I think you got flour in my ear, Jen," Harry stated, sticking a finger in and moving it around, attempting to remove the excess flour.

"I think you got flour up my nose," she responded, acting like she was about to inspect the area with her finger as Harry was doing in his ear. Harry gave a quick chuckle and playfully shoved Jen's arm; she did the same to him. The two finished cleaning and relaxed with a glass of milk each to enjoy the spoils of their effort. It ended up taking longer than the had thought it would, so long that the sun was nowbeggining to set.

"That was actually pretty fun," Harry said, sounding happyish; it was the most happy he'd seemed the entire time he and Jen had known each other.

She smiled and replied, "Yep, and now you get to deal with me when I'm sugar-high."

"Oh, goody," Harry said while rolling his eyes. Jen got up and started heading for the door. "Where are you going?" Harry asked, sounding worried.

"I am going for a walk," she replied.

"Why?" Why did he seem so worried?

"I enjoy walking, it keeps me from being even more violent than usual," she stated honestly.

"I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?" Now it was Jen's turn to ask, and if he wasn't going to tell her, she wasn't going to bother with listening. Jen already had a pretty good idea why he was worried, and it wasn't something she was worried about in the least.

"_Jen_," Harry now sounded exasperated. Jen heaved a large sigh and headed out the door.

"You're welcome to come along," she called as she exited the house.


	13. FANGS? !

A/N: the rating has changed (i guess). it's no problem if you're under 13 and still intend to read this, just be ready for some strong language and a few things that may seem a bit adult (death, gory stuff, and jen being absolutely blunt about anything and everything)

disclaimer: still don't own harry&friends

* * *

Jen began walking down the sidewalk as she heard footsteps coming from behind. Out of reflex, she turned sharply and bent your knees slightly, getting ready to fight. Jen saw it was only Harry and relaxed somewhat. "Glad you decided to come along," she said cheerfully. Harry, on the other hand, didn't look too cheerful.

"It's not safe for you to be out at night. Go back inside," Harry said, in a voice that sounded all too familiar.

"Buddy system, mate. I watch out for you, you watch out for me."

"What part of 'it's not safe' don't you get?"

"The part where you expect that to deter me in any way whatsoever."

"Do you enjoy getting into some kind of trouble on a regular basis, or does it just happen?" _I might ask you the same thing._ Jen kept this little thought to herself, though.

"Trouble can be fun," she stated.

"Not when you're in real danger, it can't!"

Jen was about to ask just what kind of danger she was in, but thought better of it. Instead she kept walking, though at a slightly faster pace. By now the two teens had walked until they were almost at the little park, and reasonably far away from the houses. Harry sped up as well, and then passed right in front of Jen before turning around and blocking her way. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he got a chance to, the two heard a loud rustling. Jen's immediate reaction was to crouch down, ready to jump up at any attacker whenever they came into view. She saw that Harry had a hand in pocket and seemed to be debating something in his head. _I can't believe I didn't have my guard up earlier. I should have been able to tell someone was here. _The rustling continued, and Jen heard noise come from the little grove of trees. Suddenly, four people burst out of the grove, four very familiar people at that.

"What the hell are you doing here, Dudley?" Harry growled.

"Just here to teach that little girlfriend of yours some manners, Potter," the fat git replied.

"You do realize how many times I've heard that asinine cliché before, right?" Jen said angrily; she had been all worried for nothing.

"My, my, my…what a feisty little one," Piers stated calmly.

"Shut up, Polkiss!" Harry threatened, taking a step towards Dudley while reaching for something in his back pocket. With amazing speed, Malcolm and Gordon were standing on either side of Harry, keeping his hands behind his back.

"What're you gonna do about it, Potter?" Malcolm asked mockingly. Jen had been paying such close attention to what was happening with Harry that she didn't notice Piers come up behind her.

"Let go of her!" Harry yelled. He glared at Dudley, who actually looked a bit frightened. Gordon elbowed Harry in the back.

"Worried about you're scrawny boyfriend, Jen?" a voice whispered in her ear. It was Piers, the git. _I'm worried about what will happen if Harry gets much more pissed._ As if on cue, the one flashlight the boys had with them started flickering dangerously. The look of fear on Dudley's face became more obvious.

"Holy shit!" Malcolm, who had been the one holding the flashlight, yelled. He let go of the flashlight quickly, as if it were hurting him. The flashlight landed on the ground, its on/off button being the first thing to hit.

"Malcolm, you idiot! What did you do?" a voice, most likely Gordon's, asked angrily.

"It's not my fault," Malcolm replied defensively, "the thing heated up like crazy! It was almost like- oof" The "oof" sound was a reaction to Harry freeing his arm from Gordon's grasp and punching the other boy that had been holding him. _Good idea._ Jen lifted one of her feet as high up as it would go, keeping it at a right angle from her knee. Jen then brought her foot down hard, aiming a kick behind her and right in between the legs of Piers. The high-pitched sound he let out at this caused the others to look in Jen's direction. Harry was crouched down, looking ready to fight. Dudley had Gordon in a headlock and Malcolm seemed to have been looking for the flashlight.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Dudley asked, a combination of anger and fear laced in his voice.

* * *

"Let her go!" Harry yelled, glaring at his cousin. Piers was whispering something in Jen's ear, and Jen looked almost as mad as Harry felt. He felt his already high anger building, not only at Dudley and his band of idiots, but at himself. _This is all my fault. _He closed his eyes, his head starting to pound. 

"Holy shit!" Malcolm shouted, causing Harry's eyes to snap open, only to be immersed in darkness. _What the hell?_

"Malcolm, you idiot! What'd you do?" Gordon demanded. Malcolm must have been holding a flashlight in the hand that wasn't keeping Harry back. Harry took advantage of the confusing situation by wrenching his arm out of a dumfounded Gordon's grasp and punching in the general area that Malcolm was in. Malcolm let out a pained groan and released Harry. Now if he could just find Jen, they could both leave before this situation got any worse. As he started running, the situation got worse. He was just picking up speed as a hand shot out and grabbed his ankle, causing it to twist out painfully. Harry fell to the ground and rolled into a crouching position, making sure to keep most of the weight on his uninjured foot. His eyes had finally adjusted to the dark. He saw Malcolm, Gordon, and Dudley on the ground wrestling blindly with each other. Harry looked around for Jen, and saw her faint outline lifting its leg up, only for it to change direction and fly behind her. He heard a high-pitched cry and then a thud.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Dudley asked releasing what seemed to be Gordon from a headlock. Harry was trying to figure out what happened as a light flickered back on. Jen's head, which had been turned so that she was looking at something behind her on the ground, shot up as two pair of arms lifted Harry out of his crouching position and restrained him.

Dudley looked over at Harry somewhat fearfully and Harry growled, "One more year Dud, one more year." The looked of fear became obvious now. Harry looked over towards Jen and saw Piers stand up, slightly bent over, with a look of pain on his face.

"Hey, Dud, you mind if I have a go at talking some sense into her?" he sounded really angry as well as a bit hoarse.

Dudley looked over at piers confusedly and then replied, "Erm, yeah, sure." Dudley walked over and held Jen's arms behind her back while looking fearfully at Harry one more. Apparently Dudley was even more afraid of losing face than what he thought Harry capable of. Jen was looking Piers in the eye, which wasn't as hard for her as it normally would have been because Piers was bending over so that his face was only an inch or two away from hers. Piers said something that only Jen could hear, but whatever it was made Jen angry enough to spit right in Piers's face. Piers recoiled slightly and then slapped Jen hard. So hard, in fact, that Jen's head went up and to the side as she opened her mouth to let out what Harry expected to be a cry of pain. Instead, a hiss came out as a pair of pearly white fangs showed from Jen's opened mouth.

The flashlight dropped again, this time along with the arms holding Harry down. "This is insane; I'm getting outta here!" Gordon yelled. Harry then heard calls of the same mind directed towards Dudley and a few sets of footsteps going away from the area quickly. Harry tried to take a step and fell over as his hurt ankle twisted out once more. It must have been hurt worse that he had thought it was. Footsteps approached him and he looked up to see two cerulean eyes reflecting in the moonlight, along with a pair of fangs…

* * *

A/N: hope you liked it. just to clear up a few things: Jen is NOT a vampire. However, she obviously doesn't seem to be human... the next part will answer a few questions, and hopefully bring about a few more. 


	14. A what?

Disclamer: i own a chocolate bar wrapper and a cat. i ate the chocolate bar and the cat's evil.

A/N: i'm so sorry it's taken so long for me to update. i've had pracitces and games for two softball teams, tests, and four huge projects keeping me from writing. i'm going to try for once a week from now on.

* * *

"You're hurt," a familiar voice stated as the fanged person (or whatever the hell it was) bent over him. It took him a few more seconds for his eyes to adjust to the darkness enough to see that the figure was holding out a hand. Unsure of what to do, Harry simply looked up at where the figure's face should be. He could now see her more easily than the rest of his surroundings, as if she was glowing slightly. It was definitely a girl, and not just any girl. Jen was standing above him, glowing, with fangs, offering him a hand. What ended up surprising him even more than all of this was that, upon realizing who she was, he reached up and grabbed her hand.

* * *

Everyone scampered off except for Harry. He tried to take a step and ended up collapsing. Completely forgetting about her fangs being out, Jen ran over to see what was wrong. When she came up to him, she saw him clutching his foot. "You're hurt," Jen said simply while holding her hand out. Harry looked up at her worriedly until a look of realization came across his face along with a look of worry. However, his hand grasped hers and she helped him up. _He sprained his ankle. _It must have happened a little after the flashlight fell. Still, the muscle was damaged badly enough that he must have hurt it before. Jen looked around the area to see if the flashlight was anywhere close. No such luck! "Here, lean up against this tree," she said.

"Why?" Harry demanded.

"You'll see," Jen sighed. This wasn't anywhere near how she had wanted him to find out, assuming that she'd wanted him to at all. He leaned against the tree as Jen crouched down, lightly touching his hurt ankle. At this point, it was impossible for her to focus enough to fully heal it, but she had to at least heal it enough for him to be able to walk somewhere besides here.

"What the hell?"

"Long story, I'll explain once we get somewhere safe." The girl helped Harry hobble to her house, where she saw that her parents were not yet home.

Harry sat down on the sofa while you sat his foot was properly elevated. "So are you going to tell me what's going on?" He actually seemed somewhat calm.

Jen sighed and sat down next to his foot. Then, stating the obvious since her fangs were** still** out, said, "I'm not exactly human." Harry had an ever so sarcastic "oh really" look on his face so she continued with another sigh, "I'm a harpy."

"A what!"

Another sigh and then, a bit more slowly, "I'm a harpy."

"I may just be delirious from everything that just happened, but aren't harpies supposed to have wings?" This time Jen smiled slightly and got up. She closed your eyes, focusing.

* * *

"I'm a harpy." This was the second time that Jen had said this, but Harry was still having a difficult time getting it to sink in. _Aren't harpies supposed to have wings?_ He voiced as much, and Jen got up, smiling. She then closed her eyes, a look of concentration on her face. Out of nowhere, a large pair of wings shot out from behind Jen. They seemed to be feathered, and the feathers were oddly colored. They started out a deep blue, almost black, and ended with tips the same color as Jen's eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me about all of this sooner?" Harry questioned, somewhat heatedly.

"I thought you might like a bit of a break from everything that you're going through. Also, I thought you might want to get to know me before you found out what I was." Harry pondered what Jen had just said, along with what had happened earlier over the summer. Suddenly, it clicked.

"You're the one that the Order had watching me, aren't you?"

"Yes," she admitted. Harry felt anger surge inside of him again.

"So that's why you've been spending so much time with me? You had to? Is that why you acted like my friend!" Harry made to get up, only to have Jen ruffle her wings (most likely in annoyance) and the stand over him.

"You're welcome to be pissed at me. Honestly, I don't blame you. However, you aren't going anywhere until your ankle gets healed," Jen said firmly.

"Then why don't you do that weird healing thing on my ankle again so I can leave?" he asked edgily.

"I will as soon as I can focus enough to do it well. Also, you throwing a hissy fit only makes it harder for me to concentrate."

Harry glared up at her, but remained sitting. "Anyway, I didn't hang out with you because I was supposed to be watching you. It would have been just as easy, if not easier, to just sit in a bush and watch you or something to that affect. I acted like your friend because I _am _your friend."

"You and the rest of the world seem to think that being my friend includes keeping important things from me! Like the fact that I'm being _watched_ that you're a harpy, that people think Voldemort's trying to posses me, why the hell he wanted to kill me, and a load of other shit!" Harry yelled, letting all his pent up anger out at once. He continued with the same level of rage, "And you know what? What I don't know **_can _**hurt me! It ended up costing me the one person who ever seemed the least bit like a parent to me!" Harry felt his emotions rising almost out of control again, but the new look on Jen's face, a look of distant pain, caused him to calm down a bit. Had he thought it was just that her feelings were hurt, his anger would have continued. This look, on the other hand, was one reflecting the way he felt about losing his godfather.

"He's…gone?" Jen asked in an aggrieved tone. Harry nodded, somewhat confused. He just barely heard Jen utter "Sirius."


	15. about jen

A/N: in case any of you were wondering how it is that jen and harry started making cookies in the morning and weren't finished until the evening, the cookies used yeast and therefore took forever to make. it was also very overcast and the two of them took their time eating them. (yeah, that's the best i can come up with for my stupid screw-up)

anyway, it's officially summer and that means me updating a hell of a lot more. please please please please review and maybe even ask jen questions.

disclaimer: i'm now the proud owner of a bunch of long, bsed papers and a new chocolate bar (chocolate is my friend : D)

* * *

Harry was more than confused now. "You knew him?" he asked. Jen sighed and then nodded. 

"He was one of my best friends," she said quietly. She closed her eyes as if she were trying to hold back tears.

"How did you even know him?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's a long story," Jen stated, remaining very quiet, "The under-detailed, extremely short version is that I went to school with him when we were both young. That probably only makes things more confusing, though."

"How the hell did you go to school with him! You're _my age_ not to mention a harpy!" Harry felt confused, and from the confusion was springing a slight burst of anger.

"I haven't always been sixteen," _Well that's obvious. It doesn't really help, either._ "In fact, I was twenty-two at one point." _What!_ He must have voiced as much, because Jen looked ready to explain more. Though he wouldn't put it past her to read minds anymore. "Perhaps this will help to clear a few things up." Jen ran a thumb along her throat, a faint blue mark appearing along it. The blue mark quickly faded away, except for two small, triangular spots that were within about an inch of each other.

"What the hell is _that_?" It looked like a bite mark or something. _Wait. A bite mark? Aw hell…_ "Something bit you and turned you into a harpy, didn't it?" He assessed gravely.

"Actually I was born a harpy. Unlike with vampires, which is where I'm guessing you got that theory from, you are either born a harpy or not one at all. One of the many differences between the two. However, I _was _bitten." A pained, yet still somewhat amused, look now playing on her face.

"How was telling me all that supposed to make me **_less_** confused! And what does something biting you have to do with any of this if it doesn't explain why you're here!" The anger was growing slightly.

"Slowly but surely, I'm going to explain all of it," Jen said calmly, not looking the least bit worried about Harry's confusion or anger, "My getting bitten does have to do with why I'm here. I actually got bitten twice. The first time was by a vampire, the second by a harpy. The first bite killed me in a sense. The second brought me back."

"How, and more importantly WHY, did a vampire bite you? What do you mean by 'in a sense'? How the hell did you get brought back? You can't bring people back from death!" All these questions were asked of Jen in the period of about half a second, so how it was that she understood any of it was a mystery.

"One question at a time and you'll have a better chance of being less confused sometime soon," Jen said, still pained, but still amused as well, "A vampire bit me because I was on an assignment for the job I had at that point and we got ambushed. I fought, so she bit me right in the vein on my neck."

The strange girl took a small pause and then continued, "I say 'in a sense' because it wasn't the bite that killed me; had it been a different scenario, I might have lived. Had the vampire not held me down, or had I not been so tired from fighting that I had been able to unlatch her from my neck, I could have healed the wound. That small shadow of doubt is enough that a good friend of mine, whom I now literally owe my life to, was able to bring me back."

Harry's confusion only was only increasing; his anger, however, was remaining under control to the point that he wasn't going to yell or blow anything valuable up. At this point, it seemed like that would only increase the amount of time it would take for him to have any inkling of understanding.

"Harpies are considered immortal by most because the standard for immortality , given by humans, is a lifespan upwards of 500 years. Harpies normally live to be between 600 and 700, so we fall into that area. Even though actual immortals, vampires again being the main example, don't normally consider us such, there is a process that a harpy is capable of that makes them question their own standards. A harpy can sacrifice his or her 'immortality' to bring back someone who has died. There are very specific circumstances, though. I honestly don't know what all of them are; I don't think anyone does. What I do know is this: it doesn't work if the person got hit with a killing curse, or anything else that causes instant death. The way it works, as far as I can tell, is that it really just makes it so that a circumstance was changed, not the actual death. So, if someone couldn't heal themselves before bleeding to death anyway, the process probably wouldn't have worked for them."

"That makes NO SENSE at all!" Harry exclaimed. He was angry again, though this time it was simply because he had no idea what was going on anymore.

"Neither does life. If life makes no sense, it's not really sensible to expect what happens afterwards to either," Jen stated, sounding familiar to Luna.

"You're speaking in riddles!"

"Life is nothing more than a gigantic riddle. What better way to try to understand it than to speak its language." Now she really sounded like Luna.

"Right. That's nice. Tell me when you intend to stop sounding insane," Harry said exasperatedly. Jen opened her mouth to retort, but Harry near-shouted, "Don't even start!" This time Jen smiled, albeitly it was a tired smile. Harry sighed and then, after pondering for a few seconds, said slightly (very slightly) more calmly, "So what happened after you died?" Jen smiled understandingly. He was beginning to believe that she actually could relate to how he felt, though the small fact did little to help with his anger.

"One of my friends, obviously enough a harpy, brought me back. You don't know her. Nor does anyone here, though you might meet her later. Any other questions?"

"Yeah, quite a few actually. How long is a mortal life, because wizards live longer than muggles, but they're both mortal. Also, why are you here if your friend isn't? Wouldn't you end up wherever she is? Why are you sixteen if you were twenty-two when it happened. And, the big one, HOW THE HELL DO I KNOW YOU'RE NOT LYING!" This last question was one that had been at the back of his mind since he and Jen had begun this little conversation.

"My life span is between 125 and 175, so it's plenty long. I'm not really sure why it is that I ended up here, but I'm guessing that's just how it was meant to end up. That's all I can think to say about my age, too. I'd say that you just have to trust me, but I haven't really given you much of a reason to. Whenever you see Remus again you can ask him I guess. Apart from that, I can't really prove much to you. People that I know but you don't won't be of much help because you don't really have much of a reason to trust any of them, either. You'll probably see everyone else that knows you and knows me at the same time you see Remus again." Jen said all of this calmly, as if this entire situation was completely normal. Her eyes, however, still held sadness.

As the fanged girl sat down again, she lightly touched his ankle. The now somewhat familiar tingling sensation returned for a few seconds. When Jen lifted her hand off of him, he could tell his ankle was fully healed. "It should sit for about ten minutes so that the muscle strengthens in the right place. Afterwards, feel free to leave."

Jen took a deep breath and got up. For a second, Harry thought she was somewhat calm, an emotion neither had truly expressed the entire night. The supposed calmness was quickly disproven, as Jen jumped up and kicked a vase right off the fireplace mantle. He would have been surprised that she could jump like that, but she still had wings sticking out of her back. Her eyes glowed a dangerous red as the vase shattered against a wall, but then cooled back down to a blue slightly darker than her usual color.

* * *

A/N: please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please review 


	16. Utter chaos

A/N: i'm so sorry that i haven't updated. first my computercrashed, then it kept randomly shutting down, then i got grounded. on the bright side, i finished part 17 and am almost done with part 18.

disclaimer: i own a crappy computer that eats my files, nothing more (i ate my chocolate bar)

* * *

Jen watched as the priceless vase shattered against the wall, but felt little if any remorse. It could be fixed in a second as soon as her parents got home, though she was beggining to think that it would be morning before they returned. Even if the vase couldn't have been replaced,Jen wouldn't have cared. Yet another person she had cared deeply for had been taken away, leaving her to wonder why it was that fate hated her so. True, there was a war going on, so people on either side would be lost. _But why is it always people I care about and why is it always so close to when I could have been there to stop it?_Jen was tempted to take out more of her rage on various breakable objects around the house, but refrained from it, knowing it would do nothing to help.The frustrated girl sighed and focused on retracting both her wings and fangs. Her wings did so immediately, but her fangs remained. Feeling like a freaky version of Cinderella, Jen checked her watch and saw that her potion had worn off a little over fifteen minutes ago, leaving her fangs right where they were. Jen rolled her eyes and stomped off to the kitchen in an effort to find some of the extra potion that she'd made earlier in the week, hoping she hadn't let it sit in the heat too long.

* * *

Harry watched as Jen's wings disappeared, only to see her open her eyes in confusion. Checking her watch, she scowled and then walked into the kitchen. Harry heard the sound of various pots and pans banging around, a glass shattering, a refrigerator door opening, and a refrigerator door being slammed shut. There was a pause and then another glass shattered to the ground as Jen stalked back into the kitchen, a look of disgust on her face.

"In case you're interested," she said to Harry, "the potion that I'm supposed to take for my fangs went bad, _really _bad." Harry couldn't help but feel a small amount of his anger lift at the sight of Jen's face. She looked as if she had eaten a rotten lemon, or something equally disgusting. Jen sighed and plopped down on the sofa next to Harry's feet.

* * *

Jen sank into the sofa and said nothing for a few minutes. Eventually, the absolute silence was broken, and by Harry rather surprisingly.

"How much do you know?" he asked, sounding tired instead of angry.

"About what?" the girl responded, unsure of how to answer otherwise.

"Me."

This wasn't what Jen had expected to be asked. Nevertheless,she felt obliged to answer. "Probably near everything,"she stated. There was no need to go into detail; both were aware of that. What Jen didn't know for a fact, she could guess with a good amount of accuracy; and what she had no idea about wasn't anything she needed to know.

Harry thought for a moment and then asked, "If you're a harpy, how'd you go to Hogwarts?"

"My mom's a harpy; my dad's a wizard." Jen could tell Harry was calmer than he had been, as he seemed to be interested in listening to her answers.She was about to explain a little more, but got cut off by the fireplace suddenly igniting. A large green flame surrounded her mother's head.

"Hi, Jenna. Oh, and hello Harry,"Jen's mother's head greeted. Turning back towards Jen, she continued, "There's a little trouble at work, so we're not going to be home until morning, okay?"

"Got it, mum."

"And Harry, you're welcome to stay as long as you want." Harry nodded, looking surprised. A large crash sounded and Vera Davenport turned her head in shock.

"I have to go, sweetie," she said, "See you later."

"Mum, go now before something blows up," Jen replied. An enormous crash followed. "Too late," she mumbled.

The familiar face disappeared, as did the fire, and Jen sank once more into the sofa.

"What's going on," Harry asked.

"Utter chaos,"she said, slumping further into the sofa.

* * *

A/N: i hit a huge writer's block, as well as six history essays all due within a four week period


	17. Fight and Flight

**A/N:**here it is. short, i know, but at least it's something. i'm SO sorry i took so long. now that i've got something i'll update more often. this one's un-beta'd, and until i find a new beta the rest will be too.

dislaimer: not mine

* * *

"So where do we head before anywhere else?" Hermione asked, "Your aunt and uncle's?" The trio had just stepped off the train and it was still unclear what order they were going to go in. Harry opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a strangely familiar voice.

"Burrow first, you lot need to make sure everyone knows where to look for you so they don't freak out." A short girl with somewhat long blonde hair was standing there with slightly overlong jeans and a simple T-shirt on; her dark blue eyes looked tired. It took a moment to register with Harry just who this girl was, as he hadn't seen her since the day after their little fiasco with Dudley and his crew. She had left that Sunday, and that Tuesday he'd gotten his letter from Dumbledore. While his memory of her was vague at best, he was sure there was something different about her. Her hair was down, if that made any difference, and strangely done. Where the part would have been, there was a braid that went all the way from her forehead to the tips of her hair. The rest was down, producing a strange look. Really, though, was it even her? The girl flashed him a quick smile, and he caught a glimpse of fangs. It was Jen.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, suddenly oblivious to his two companions and the looks they were throwing Jen.

"One of the many accompanying you to the Burrow. I'm Jen, by the way," she said, extending a hand each to Hermione and Ron. The three shook and Jen launched into an explanation. "The Order thinks it would be a good idea if you all explained your traveling plans first so that they know when to start worrying that you've been captured, and where to look." Both got slightly wide-eyed and Ron cast a wary look to Harry.

"Harry, do you know her?" Hermione asked, indicating to Jen.

Harry nodded and explained, "She was the one watching me for the Order this summer."

"One of the ones," Jen corrected then went on, "You really don't think they'd trust me to watch you all by myself, do you?" Harry gave an amused half smile in reply.

"There they are," someone called. The four teens turned to see Ginny, Lupin, Tonks, Moody, and two women than only Jen seemed to recognize. It turned out that the two newcomers were Jen's friends from America. Their names were Brenna and Aidan, and both of them were a good deal taller than Jen. Aidan had hair as red as Ron's, with so many light and dark brown streaks in it that it was impossible to tell what color there was the most of. She was slightly shorter than Lupin, but not by much, and was wearing old looking jeans that had quite a few holes in them, a red tank top, and combat boots. Aidan's eyes were a very reddish brown, with a few lighter specks, and she had a piercing on her eyebrow, on her lip, and four on each ear. Brenna was taller than Lupin by about an inch, and was wearing a knee-length black skirt as well as a form fitting, short-sleeved black top and boots similar to Aidan's that went up past the hem of the skirt. Her outfit, along with her raven black hair, brought out the paleness of her complexion. Harry saw that her dark eyes held silver specks that were the same color as the last two inches of her hair.

On the car ride to the Burrow, Jen introduced herself with more detail to Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, all of whom were taking the news that Jen was half harpy much better than Harry would have expected.

"So have you heard the news?" Harry asked, suddenly solemn as he remembered Dumbledore. Jen's arrival could only distract him for so long.

Jen nodded, saying nothing. Ron, on the other hand, said, "Can you believe it? I mean I never liked Snape, but I didn't really think he'd turn out to be a filthy traitor." No one noticed the look Jen gave to Ron for this statement.

* * *

Jen and Lupin were arguing. Everyone else was still unpacking, and Jen's friends and Moody had left. Tonks was in the kitchen with Harry; both were staring at the door that led to the living room, where two voices could just be heard. Tonks seemed contemplative, and Harry didn't want to miss out on what he could hear by asking her if she knew what they were fighting about. He couldn't understand much of what was going on, but he thought he heard "dangerous", "stupid", "friend", "have to", and "bad idea". There were quite a few "NO"s coming from both of them.

"Remus, I. DON'T. CARE. If it's fucking dangerous, I'm going to anyway," Jen almost yelled as she exited into the kitchen, her head still turned towards the living room. She turned and noticed Tonks and Harry, though she didn't seem surprised.

"You can't just randomly decide to do something like this. Do you even have any proof?"

"Depending on how you define 'proof', I have somewhere between a little and a mountain of it. However, my trust should be enough for you to get off my case about it. I'm not asking anyone to help me, nor do I intend to."

Lupin dropped his voice and said something only Jen could hear,and whatever it was earnedhim a look that would make most people flinch.

"Goodbye, Remus," Jen said, then gave a quick wave to the two others before heading out the kitchen door. Harry heard a muffled 'pop' and knew Jen had gone.

* * *

A/N: hope that wasn't too obvious. i really need a new beta. anyway, thanks again to everyone who reviewed and i hope you enjoyed this. 


End file.
